The U.S. Air Force’s chief of staff wants the service to develop an affordable, lightweight fighter to replace hundreds of aging F-16s and complement a small fleet of sophisticated F-35 stealth fighters. But an affordable, lightweight fighter is exactly what the F-35 was first conceived to be.
required reading, won't regret!
Also I srsly hope y'all are aware of that thing called "raptor cough". Basically all F-22 pilots develop serious corona-ilke coughs that stay with them for the rest of their life due to the awesome flight maneuvers they have to pull, which like fucks with their lung fluids or something. USAF looked into it and said "yup, that's real. Can't do anything about it though, sorry. Keep flying!" - yeah freedom, baby!